Winter of discontent in Slovakia: Why the new government is already under scrutiny
Opposition parties, NGOs, legal experts, journalists and activists have strongly criticised PM Robert Fico and his plans to scrap Slovakia's special prosecutor's office, which is currently handling several cases involving Fico's own party.
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00:00 "Enough with the police!"
00:04 From the outside we are like the beautiful democratic land in Eastern Europe.
00:09 But if you look inside it, it's polluted with crime and oligarchs.
00:17 That's why I think it's the black hole of Europe.
00:25 "Enough with the police!"
00:31 It's only been a few weeks since the new Slovak government
00:42 has brought an eclectic social protest movement
00:45 that includes the opposition, of course, but also lawyers, journalists, NGOs
00:50 and a large cast of civil society.
00:52 I've come to the heart of the protests here in Bratislava,
00:55 the capital of the country, to try and understand what's going on.
00:59 Some 15,000 protesters are protesting against Prime Minister Robert Fischl
01:14 and his plans to dismantle the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
01:18 The institution is pursuing high-level corruption and organized crime
01:22 and is currently working on several cases that affect Fischl's own party.
01:27 Daniel Lipschitz is ready to step down.
01:38 Even the European Commission has shown concern for the plans.
01:43 Why are you here?
01:45 We're here to show our support and solidarity for democracy and the rule of law.
01:50 Because basically he's corrupting the judicial system here.
01:55 His friends are under investigation.
01:58 Civil society and people are here, so we are trying to fight.
02:01 We need to stop the people who are basically just robbing the state.
02:11 We just need to finally show that we just don't want them here.
02:15 Robert Fischl became Prime Minister for the fourth time this fall
02:25 in front of a coalition of left-wing and ultra-nationalist parties.
02:29 His critics say his campaign was planted with pro-Russian,
02:33 anti-Ukrainian, anti-American rhetoric and against immigration.
02:37 Is his return to power a real threat to democracy in Slovakia?
02:42 I'm looking for answers in an NGO involved in the fight against corruption.
02:48 Slovakia ranks 50th out of 180 countries listed in the Global Corruption Index.
02:57 It's its best position in a decade, these experts tell me.
03:01 But they say there are not enough reasons to feel proud.
03:05 I'm not sure if that's true.
03:07 There are two main areas in Slovakia that our campaign is focused on.
03:12 First, there are public and state bans.
03:16 Then there is a conflict of interests among politicians,
03:20 especially among those who are interested in public interest and corruption.
03:26 In the last few years, the biggest police intervention has taken place in this area.
03:34 Some of these political chaos have already happened in front of the court.
03:39 It has been shown that corruption is one of the biggest threats to politics.
03:45 The NGOs have been classified by the Prime Minister as foreign agents, thieves and liars.
03:53 The government has proposed to divert some of the public money from the pensioners.
04:01 This small town, 35 km from the capital, has a 30% Gypsy population.
04:07 Unemployment is high and the school attendance is low.
04:13 Humanitarian organizations have been working here for a long time.
04:19 Now, given the government's rhetoric against NGOs and minorities,
04:23 they don't know if they can continue operating.
04:29 You have to bring the running water, you have to bring everywhere what is necessary
04:34 to be able to study, to be able to go to work every day.
04:38 And then you can bring the social learning and skills, empowerment and things like that.
04:47 We are missing the sources for systematic work and also some services funded by government.
04:54 We feel that the support of the government is the most important thing in this moment.
05:00 So we hope that this attitude will change and that we will get the chance to continue in our activities.
05:08 Back in Bratislava, I try to get these concerns to the executive power, but I can't.
05:16 The government has rejected my numerous interviews.
05:21 It has agreed to talk to me, but the country's ombudsman, the defender of fundamental rights,
05:26 is a public body whose independence is endorsed by the constitution.
05:31 The defender is in charge of denouncing human rights violations,
05:37 equitable treatment and ethical conduct of public authorities.
05:41 He can't comment on government policies, but he says he monitors the protection
05:46 of fundamental rights of all minorities, including the Roma community.
05:51 The arrival of school segregation in one case, which I note,
05:58 led to the violation of the right of children to be raised without discrimination, to be educated.
06:04 It was the case of a particular school in eastern Slovakia,
06:09 where I even started communicating with the school administrator,
06:13 who I advised to leave these discriminatory practices,
06:18 so that the majority of children would not be segregated.
06:25 The new government has also sent ambivalent messages about the war in Ukraine.
06:32 The Prime Minister said he would not send more weapons.
06:35 He later changed his statement, but the almost 150,000 Ukrainians who live here
06:40 are concerned.
06:43 This NGO teaches lessons to help refugees learn Slovak and integrate better.
06:50 Mihailo escaped from Mariupol.
06:53 People have already stopped fighting the war.
06:57 Many people associate the increase in prices for food and services with the war.
07:05 Many people blame the Ukrainians for this.
07:10 The relations have deteriorated a bit.
07:13 Some people who come right now are not as comfortable as they were when we arrived.
07:23 Olena comes from a small town near Kharkov.
07:28 I am worried about this. I was afraid that the government would not continue the program for housing.
07:38 I am worried about our future.
07:43 The conversations with the new government are complicated,
07:48 says the director and co-founder of the NGO.
07:52 I am worried about the list of priorities.
07:57 The topic of Ukrainians and Ukrainian inclusion and integration has gone and will be in the coming years.
08:06 We are already working with budgets that are 50-60% smaller than they were this year.
08:15 We are concerned. But I also must say that this is a government that is not unfamiliar to us.
08:22 We do continue to have an operational relationship with their offices.
08:29 The previous prime minister's term ended with his resignation after mass protests
08:34 for the murder of a journalist who investigated high-level political corruption and his girlfriend.
08:40 Now this rhetoric against the media has returned, says the editor-in-chief of a newspaper
08:46 that is already in the point of view of the new government.
08:50 Mr. Friso has a problem with the free media.
08:55 It is not a new situation. It is like this for all the years.
08:59 He didn't respond. He didn't answer our questions for years.
09:03 He is attacking journalists all the time.
09:06 He calls journalists prostitutes, he calls journalists snakes and whatever.
09:14 I thought that the lesson with the murdering of Yan Kutse would be a lesson also for him.
09:21 And he would understand that he has to change his attitude towards journalism and free media.
09:27 But he didn't.
09:29 After an hour of speeches, I made my last interviews.
09:33 Fraternity, equality, freedom.
09:37 It is a country where I was born and raised and I want this country to be a nice, prosperous country.
09:47 [Music]
09:59 (upbeat music)